1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to structures for mounting visual indicators on a printed circuit board in an X by Y direction wherein X is the width of the structure and Y is the height of the structure. The present invention also relates to a multi-level lightpipe design in which a multi-tiered optical waveguide is snapped onto a printed circuit board so as to redirect light from a set of surface mounted light emitting diodes which have been initially reflowed and electrically contacted to a printed circuit board.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Right angle circuit board indicators have been utilized in the form of different sizes since around 1970. To handle needs for increased packaging density and simplified assembly labor, through-hole circuit board indicators designed and built into arrays have been conventionally used. These arrays can either be horizontally grouped, vertically grouped or both.
The transition from through-hole soldering processes to surface mount processes has created the need for surface mount compatible circuit board indicators that are also right angle devices. However, the conventional approaches for increased packaging densities for through-hole indicators are less satisfactory for surface mount applications. A surface mounted LED should ideally be visible and accessible around the solder connections so that solder joint integrity is viewable and so that rework is possible. A limitation exists in package height because common component placement equipment in use can only clear components at relatively low heights from printed circuit board surfaces. Further, stability of taller surface mount devices may be a problem. Finally, the weight of an array may be greater than component placement equipment can readily accommodate.
The use of lightpipes to redirect light as well as the use of right angle circuit board indicators are known. The use of multiple LEDs to illuminate a translucent plastic part in order to provide uniform backlighting as well as the use of individual fibers to transmit multiple light sources are also well known. However, the use of a multi-level lightpipe as set forth in the present invention, which can collect light from multiple LEDs and which can redirect the light to different locations without a mixture of the light between the LEDs, has not yet been realized.